By MATT LINDSEY

POTSDAM -- Work on the $3.7 million Maple Street Bridge project should be finished by fall but a more precise date is hard to predict due to the weather, according to Michael Flick, NYSDOT Region 7 Public Information Officer.

Phase one of the project is complete and phase two was set to begin this past week that will complete the major overhaul to the bridges providing wider roadways and sidewalks and safety upgrades.

“Things are on schedule…we didn’t really run into any problems that couldn’t be addressed or worked through,” Flick said.

The bridges, along Maple street and over the Raquette River, still have a one-lane road going east with no traffic heading west into town.

To get around the construction work, motorists are advised to drive on the bypass on U.S. Highway 11 heading toward State Highway 56 and Market Street.

Workers prepared the pedestal and concrete pad last week in preparation to set the steel on the bridge. The new steel is scheduled to be installed this week.

Flick said that workers had been making many minor repairs on the bridge over the last few years.

“The bridge was not unsafe by any means,” he said.

Every two years each bridge in the state is slated to be inspected and plans are made for those in need to be replaced or rehabbed.

“Sometimes we can save parts of the structure and we did that with this bridge,” Flick said.

The roadways have been widened to 11 feet. Flick did not have figures of how much wider that is from the previous roadway.

The railing has been moved from beneath the travel lane and sidewalk to the outside of the sidewalk away from the road. There will be higher curbs separating the road from the sidewalk.

The new design will create a more user-friendly experience creating more walking space and easier bicycle use, Flick said.

Lighting will be updated with brighter high intensity lights.

Improvements to the bridge coincide with economic development plans to build a River Walk to showcase downtown Potsdam and the Raquette River.

“The bridge will be more user-friendly,” he said.

The Riverwalk will begin at the corner of Maple and Market Streets and travel west, cross the twin bridges over the river, connect to a village-owned lane on the west side of the Raquette River behind Swan Landing Apartments, re-cross the river via Sandstoner Drive, connect at Garner Park and travel east on Raymond Street and turn south on Market returning to the starting point.

“Projects like this usually come in pretty close to their budget and I don’t see this one being any different,” Flick said.

Funding for the bridge came from a variety of funding streams at both state and federal levels, Flick said.

Vector Contracting of Syracuse was awarded the contract for the work.

“People have been very patient in dealing with the detour,” he said.